Farrell faced with postseason personnel decisions at catcher and third base

By Brian MacPherson@brianmacp

Thursday

Sep 22, 2016 at 6:30 PM

Three years ago, John Farrell had to make a pair of pivotal decisions during his team’s October playoff run. Similar decisions might await him in the next six weeks.

BALTIMORE — Three years ago, John Farrell had to make a pair of pivotal decisions during his team’s October playoff run.

Similar decisions might await him in the next six weeks.

The catcher and third baseman who played when the Red Sox clinched the American League East in 2013 were the same catcher and third baseman who took the field for the first game of the American League Division Series — Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks. By the World Series clincher, however, Saltalamacchia and Middlebrooks both had been benched in favor of what Farrell saw — and what history revealed to be — upgrades.

As the Red Sox close in on their first American League East title since 2013, their roster once again otherwise loaded, Farrell once again confronts significant question marks at catcher and third base.

But whether he makes a change to the personnel he now deploys remains to be seen.

"We've generated some momentum as a team, but there's also going to be opportunities for guys to generate momentum individually," he said.

For now, Sandy Leon is getting the overwhelming majority of starts at catcher while Aaron Hill and Travis Shaw split time at third base. That trio is hitting an ugly .242 with a .304 on-base percentage and a .388 slugging percentage in the second half. The once-hot hitting Leon has seen both his on-base percentage and slugging percentage fall below .300 for the month of September.

The problem Farrell faces is that he doesn’t have obvious replacements like he did for Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia.

For Saltalamacchia, the problem was that he proved untenable defensively. The wayward throw that caused Allen Craig to trip over Middlebrooks on his way to scoring an umpire-awarded game-winning run was the last moment Saltalamacchia took the field in a Red Sox uniform. It was veteran David Ross who caught the final three games of that World Series.

That Farrell values defense from his catchers above all else means Leon could keep his spot even as his prolific bat seems to evaporate. But while a run saved is a run earned, so too is a run produced — and Leon hasn’t produced anything at all in more than a week. It might be that he’s worn down, catching four out of every five games. It might be that he’s finding his level, settling back in as the hitter he’s always been.

A continued fade might prompt Farrell to look to a veteran like Ryan Hanigan or a still-promising youngster like Christian Vazquez.

For Middlebrooks, the problem mirrored that of Hill and Shaw — a lack of offensive production. He was replaced by then-prospect Xander Bogaerts midway through the ALCS, and Bogaerts got on base at a .412 and slugged .481 in the postseason.

Hill enjoyed a renaissance in the first half with Milwaukee, coming off back-to-back seasons in Arizona in which he’d hit a combined .238 with a .290 on-base percentage. The Hill the Red Sox acquired has looked more like that Arizona Hill than the Milwaukee Hill, hitting a woeful .222 with a .283 on-base percentage.

Neither Hill nor Shaw, who was at third base Thursday night, has seized the third-base job in the way Farrell had hoped one might.

For the briefest moment, top prospect Yoan Moncada looked like a candidate to do this season what Bogaerts did in 2013.

Like a shooting star, however, the idea that Moncada would take over at third base fizzled. Moncada struck out in eight straight at-bats and was relegated to the bench. Entering play Thursday, he hadn’t even seen the field in 10 days.

One intriguing alternative might be Brock Holt, who was at shortstop Thursday and could see time at a variety of positions in the final 10 days. If Holt gets hot with the bat and Hill and Shaw do not, Holt might find himself at third base full-time come October.

"Because of his flexibility on the defensive side, he could find himself there if he's swinging the bat with some consistency there," Farrell said. "I don't want to rule anything out at this point."

Brian MacPherson writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.

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